The foot has many bones of various sizes, shapes and function. A main bone of the foot is the heel bone or calcaneus. The calcaneus is a large tarsal bone that articulates anteriorly with the cuboid bone and superiorly with the talus bone. The calcaneus transmits the majority of body's weight from the talus bone to the ground. Because of this, the calcaneus may experience bony aberrations such as fractures and/or other types of conditions due to various reasons.
Calcaneal fractures are often attributed to shearing stress adjoined with compressive forces combined with a rotary direction. These forces are typically linked to injuries in which an individual falls from a height, is involved in an automobile accident, or undergoes muscular stress where the resulting forces can lead to fracture. Calcaneal fractures can also be the result of problems associated with osteoporosis and/or diabetes.
No matter the cause, calcaneal fractures causes pain over the heel area. Other symptoms include the inability to bear weight over the involved foot, limited mobility of the foot, and limping. The area typically includes swelling, redness, and hematomas. The heel may also become widened with associated edema due to displacement of lateral calcaneal border.
Treatment may be non-surgical or surgical depending on the particular case. A closed reduction with or without fixation, or fixation without reduction are two non-surgical treatments. If surgical treatment is indicated, a conservative treatment is a closed reduction with percutaneous fixation. This approach however, has its pros and cons. Pros include less wound complications, better soft tissue healing, and decreased intraoperative time. Cons include an increased risk of inadequate calcaneal bone fixation compared to open reduction treatments. This can cause future consequences for the patient. Therefore, open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF) is generally the preferred surgical treatment, particularly for displaced intrarticular fractures. Nonetheless, as with any open surgical procedure, there are associated risks.
In view of the above, it is apparent that improvements can be made in the surgical treatment of bony aberrations, particularly in medical instruments and their method of use for treating bony aberrations of the calcaneus such as calcaneal compression fractures. As such, it is desirable to have a better surgical treatment for bony aberrations of the calcaneus such as, but not limited to, calcaneal compression fractures that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. It is therefore desirable to have medical instruments and methods of their use for surgically treating bony aberrations of the calcaneus such as, but not limited to, calcaneal compression fractures.